Machine for making stereotype plates for printing for the blind



ec. 3G, 924. LSZI-IS J. R. ATKINSCN ET AL.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE PLATES FOR PRINTING FOR THE BLIND FiledMarch l5, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet l ffg 4 la 1-3 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 72 Q (frJ. R. ATKINSON ET AL. INE FOR MAKING STREOTYPE PLATES FOR PR1NTING- FORTHE BLIND Filed March l5, 1921 wwwrun MACH Dm. 30, 1924i.

INVENToR. v70-kfz /15022. )fdl/ry Gearing.

LSZIIS @au 3G, 924.

J. R. ATKINSON T AI.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE PLATES FOR PRINTING FOR THE BLIND FiledMarch l5, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 LSZLLMS Dec, 3U, 924.

.,. ATKINSON ET AL.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE PLATES FOR PRINTING FOR THE BLIND 1921 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March l5,

INVENTORS. J/zfz ltffz'fzsofz. /far/y Gearing.

Dec. 30. 1924. I,52,45

J. R. ATKINSON ET AL.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE PLATES FOR PRINTING FOR THE BLIND FiledMarch l5, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheel 5 Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

UNIT'ED STATES JOHN B. ATKINSON AND HARRY GEARING, LOS AN GELFS,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOBS TO SAID JOHN R. ATKINSON.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEQREOTYPE PLATES FOB. PRINTING FOR THE BLIND.

Application filed March 15, 1921. Serial No. 452,527.

To all 'who/m, t may concer-n Be it known that we, JOHN R. ATKINSON andHARRY GEARING, citizens of the United States, residing in the cityof LosAngeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making StereotypePlates for Printing for the Blind, of which the following is aspecification.

The principal object of our invention is to produce an improved machineof the character referred to and which can be operated as is atypewriter, and which will produce a stereotyped or embossed plate orsheet from which other sheets can be readily reproduced in any quantity.

Another object of our invention is to provide in such a machine apositive, mechanical action, whereby the stroke. of the dies or pointswill be uniform, whether one point or six points are made during thestroke, thus producing uniformity.

Another object of our invention is to provide power means withmechanical connections for controlling and making each stroke, withmeans whereby each stroke is cont-rolled by the depressing of a key andthe carriage is held against movement from the position of the lastcharacter until the key is released, and no matter how long the key isheld down, onlythe one character point or group of points is made.

Another object of our invention is to produce a machine which will feedthe plate or sheet in a horizontal plane to receive the embossment andwhich will carry the sheet or plate across the positionof the matrix,character at a time, as a key is depressed and released, just as is doneby the carriage of a typewriter.

Another object of our invention is to provide a machine with means `forchanging the letter spacing and also the line spacing. and with diferentsizes of dies and matrices for interchan cable use, as may be desired.

Other o jects and advantages will appear from the followin detaileddescri tion on one embodiment o? our invention s own on theaccompanying` sheets of drawings for illustrative purposes. l

In the drawings, Figure l is an end view of a machine embodying ourinvention, with parts shown in section;

Figure 2 is a front view of said machine;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the driving and clutchmechanism;

Figure 4 is a side view of the clutch pnl-- lev and clutch shownsinsection in Fig.. 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the feeding mechanism forfeeding a sheet rearwardly through thev machine carriage in a horizontalplane; y

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view through the die and matrixmechanism;

Figure 7 is a front view of the same, also showing other parts of themachine;

u Figure 8 is an enlarged plan view of the die block;

Figure 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional View of a die block; K

Figure 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8, with dies for making brackets,also shown in section in Fig. 9;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary top plan vier' of themechanismehown in Fig.5;.

Figure 12 is a side view of the escapement mechanism" on the carriage;

Figure 13 is a top vlan view thereof, partly in section;

Figure 14 is a top plan view of the stand; all

Figures'15 and 16 are detailed views of the clutch mechanism.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, we will describe the embodimentor our invention illustrated.

A stand or table like structure is provided', comprising the end legframes, 1, 1, connected with two beam-like members, 2, 3,' Fig. 14,standing in vertical planes and spaced apart on top of said end leg mem-E 1,521,415 PATENT omen.

bers 1, 1. The ends of said members 2 and l 3 are connected with two endportions 4, 4, which extend forwardly beyond the member 3, and support afront finish plate, 5, at each'end of the front of the machine. Twovspaced connectin and supporting brackets, 6, 6, are place between themembers, 2 and 3, in the middle thereof, and on the front of the member3 are two other spaced supporting members, 7, 7, and on the outside ofsald members 7, 7, are two other supporting side members, 8, 8, whichextend out to support a keyjboard,y Figs. 1 and 14.

In the end members 4, 4, are two vertical supports, 9', 9, connected bya cross beam, 10, made hollow on its under side, as indicated said beam10,*in the middle thereof, in a bracket, 11, is a matrix member 12,holding the matrix 13, in an adjustable manner. The adjustmentvertically is made by means of a thumb screw 14, and the adjusted matrix13 is held in place by means of a set screw 15. The thumb screw head maybe provided with graduations, 14 and a finger 16 may be provided toindicate the position, as may be desired. t

Mounted between the connecting members 6, 6, between the cross members 2and 3, in a box-like support 17 a, is a stylus block,` 17, `directlyunder the matrix member 12, as indicated in Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9. Mountedin said stylus block 17, are six stylus or die members, 18, movablevertically by means of reciprocating cam rods, 19, there being aseparate rod for each stylus, and each stylus being beveled on its lowerend, as at 18', whereby the inward movement of the rods 19, elevate thestylus members, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 9. Three of theoperating cam rods 19 are provided on each side of the stylus block, andthese groups are operated from the opposite sides of the machine. Theouter ends of the rods 19 are connected vwith bell cranks, 20, mountedon the end members 4, 4, of the frame, and the free ends of the bellcranks 20, are engaged by the ends of rocker levers, 21, the oppositeends of said rocker levers 21 being connected by means of links, 22, tothe inner ends of operating keys 23, as will be understood from Fig. 2,at the left side, where three of said keys are shown, those on the rightside having been broken away to show the lever connections. Thus by -thedepression of one or more of the keys, 23, the corresponding stylus 18,are elevated and held in the raised position so long as'the key remainsdown.

The stylus block 17 is provided vwith a ntoggle 24, one member of whichis a bell crank', 25, connected at its angle with an adjustable member26, in a bearlng member 27, and provided with a nut 28,4 at` its lowerend, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7.- When the toggle lever 25 israised the whole stylus block 17 is raised to bring `the elevated stylus18, into the matrix 13,

adapted on its vlower end to receive the upper ends of said stylus. Theouter end of the bell crank 25' isl connected with a rod 29, the lowerend of which is connected with a member 30, Fig. 3, provided on its sidewitha cam roller, 31, said member 30 being` provided with an elongated.opening 30 through which a shaft 32 passes. The opening 30 permitsthe-rod 29, and the member 30to be lifted by a cam member 33, mountedon4 said shaft 32, eachY time the cam lportion 33 revolves, as will beclear from Fig. 3.

Mounted on said shaft 32 is a driving pulley 34, driven by a belt35,'from a smaller lpulley, 36, on a shaft 37, supported in a earingmember 38, and at the other end of which shaft 37, is anotherpulley 39,driven by a belt 40, from a pulley 41, on the shaft 42, of a motor 43,as will be clear from Figs. 1 and 2. Said motor is driven from a sourceof electric energy connected thereto by means of suitable electric cable44, which may be connected to an ordinary light socket, 45,.with onebranch of said cable, 44a running to the motor, 43, and another branch44b thereof running to the electric buttons, 46, on the front of themachine for controlling the motor, Fig. 2. Thus when the buttons at 46are manipulated to close a circuit to said motor, said motor is drivenconstantly and drives the pulley 34, secured thereto.

A clutch mechanism is mounted on the shaft 32, at the pulley 34, and isadapted to be thrown into and out of driving engagement with said pulleyat will. This clutch mechanism comprises a rocker dog, 47, Fig. 16,carried in the member 33, and having one end 47 a adapted to drop intogear teeth 48, around the inner art of the pulley 34, when the. otherend 4r is released by the underlying finger or yoke 49, on a shaft 50,in the bearing support 51, and the other end of which shaft is providedwith a rocker arm 52, to the end of which is attached an operating rod53, so that whenever said rod 53 is depressed, said finger 49 is rockedto the position indicated in dottedy lines, Fig. 16, which allowsthe'rocker dog to vturn into locked engagement with the teeth on thepulley 34, whereupon said cam member 33 is turned and with eachrevolution thereof the cam-portion 33 lifts the member 30, and the rod29,*tlius lifting the stylus block-17, as before described. With eachdepression of a key 23, or of the space bar 23a, said rod 53 isdepressed and said clutch is operated, which operates the cam member 30and the rod 29 and the stylus block 17. B isa brace red. .l

As a means for operating the stylus block 17, through the rod 29,manually, a foot plate 60 is shown in Fig. 1, on a rock shaft 61, with arocker arm, 62, connected with a link, 63, the other end of which isconnected to a toggle, 64, the lower end of which is fixed on a pivotrod 65, and the up- 'per end of which is connected to the lower end ofthe member 30, adapted therefor at 64', Fig. ,3, ywhereby said togglescan be straightened by the rocking of the foot plate 60, for the purposeof lifting the rod 29, and the stylus block 17, in a manner which willbe clear. l

The upper end of the rod 53, which is connected for operating theclutch, is con` nected'to a rocker lever, 66, supported in the frame, asshown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, i

the other end of. which rocker lever 66 is connected by means of a`link, 67, with a through rod 102, connected with which are the innerends of the ke levers 23, and of the space bar levers 23, or operationthereby, as above referred to, so long as any key or keys are held down,the clutch is operating and the stylus block 17 is being raised witheach revolution of the cam member 33.

We will now describe the carriage for the sheet material to receive theembossment. Mounted rigidly across the top of the frame are two bars,70, 70. A carriage frame having end members 71, 71, and connecting sidemembers, 71, 71', is mounted to travel on said rods, the side members71, both front and back being provided with rollers, 72,

v r 72, above and below said rods, whereby said frame will move easily.The frame is moved by means of a cable 73, Fig. 2, attached thereto andpassing over a pulley, 74, and provided with a-weight 75. The front sidemember of said carriage frame is provided with a ratchet bar, 76, for anescapement, hereinafter again referred to in detail. fovably mountedacross the car- -riage frame, forwardly and rearwardly, is

a frame 77, having the round end bars, 77', slidable through thebearings 78, with front and back connecting bars, 79 and 80, Fig. 11.The back bars 80 are provided with clamping members 81, to receive andhold the rear edge of a sheet of material, said clamping means beingoperated b a thumb screw 82. The round end bars 7 of the material frame77, are provided with staggered seats, to receive spring pressed hold-`ing balls, ,83, in the plural sleeve member, 84, shown in Fig. 5. Anyone of the springs, 85, can be tightened in said member 84, foroperation of its ball, 83, for the holding action, depending on whatline spacing is desired. The seats 77a of the different rows aredifferently spaced and each row has its holding ball. There are fourrows of these seats, in each end rod and four holding means, as will beunderstood from Fig. 5. The ball holds the frame frictionally in place,so that it can be moved rearwardly' or forwardlyl by overcoming thefriction of the spring pressed ball. As a means fonmovin said fra-memanually, an operating rod 85, igs. 11, and 5, is mounted on the side ofsaid frame, in bearings, 86, and provided with a hand nut or head 87,and with a worm gear 88. The worm gear 88 meshes with a second worm gear89, on a shaft 90, mounted across the frame and provided with two gears91, 91,-near its opposite ends which mesh with racks 92 on the underside of the end rods 77 Thus by turning the member 87 by hand, the framewhich carries the sheetof material can be moved forwardly or rearwardly,as desired. This sheet of material extends under the matrix and over thestylus block and moves therebetween, that is, it moves with the carriageand is also movable manually, as described, line at a time, rearwardlyor forwardly, as desired,

' Referring now to Figs. 12 and 13, we will describe the escapement.Mounted between the spaced supporting members 7, 7, of the top of theframe, Figs. 13 and 14, yis a supporting bolt-like member 95, havingballbearing nuts, 96, with balls, 97, in a cup, 98, as clearly indicatedin Fig. 13. On said bolt member 95, is a sleeve, 99, having an extension100, connected` at its lower edge with a link, 101, the lower end ofwhich is connected to the through rod 102, and under which rod the innerends of the key levers 23 engage it and to which the space bar levers23a connect, whereby each depression of a key, or of the space bar,operates to raise said extension 100. Mounted in said extension 100, isa pivoted dog 103, pivoted at 104 to said member 100, with a spring 105,on said extension 100 for normally moving the operating end of said dog103 forwardly when it is raised out of the ratchet bar, whereby when itagain moves down to the ratchet bar it will be in the next notch, and assoon as the end of the extension member 100 moves out of the firstnotch, said carriage and ratchet bar are moved forwardly one notch. Thisdog occupies a gap inthe outer end or edge of the extension member 100,as will be clear from Fig. 12, the outer end of said extension member100 and the end ofl said dog 103, being movable in the ratchet bar 76,as seen in Fig. 13. A plate 106, on said dog 103, constitutes a bearingfor the end of a lever, 107, pivoted at 108, with its free end extendedto the front of the machine, as shown, for the purpose of manuallymoving the dog out of the ratchet bar when it is desired to move thecarriage freely in either direction by hand.

Referring to Fig. 10, we have shown in connection with a stylus block 17and with the stylus 18 which are the same as the stylus 18, in Fig. 8,means for making brackets, if desired, to enclose words or sentences.These bracket stylus are designated 110, 110, in Fi 10, and they arealso shown in Fig. 9, wit the cam bars 111, for lifting them, shown insection, and also shown extended in Fig. 10. These will be operated inthe same manner as are the cam rods 19, and will simply have two extrakeys, or means for movingy said cam rods 111 inwardly, which could bedone by hand. No particular means is shown.V

Thus we have provided a machine by means of which a person can, by themanipu'lation of keys, as in operating a typesheet, said keysoperatively connecting the power means and causing it to operate theembossing elements during the depression of said keys.

We are aware that many changes in details of construction andarrangement can be made in our invention as here illustrated withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, and we do not, therefore, limit theinvention to the showing made, except as we may be limited by the heretoappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a Amachine of the character referred to, in combination, means forholding a sheet of material in a flat condition, means for moving thesame in its plane edgewise in one directon, key-controlled means formoving said sheet in its plane edgewise in a direction at right anglesto the movement aforesaid, a matrix block on one side of said sheet, astylus block at the other side of said sheet in register with saidmatrix block,

stylus in said stylus block movable to operative positions, key-actuatedmeans for positioning said stylus selectively in the stylus block, andmeans for bodily moving the stylus block and positioned stylus againstthe said sheet and said matrix block, sub-A stantially as described.

2. In a machine of the character referred to, in combination, means forholding a sheet of material in a fiat condition, key-controlled meansfor moving it step by step in one direction in its plane, 'means formanually moving it back and forth in a transverse direction, anadjustable matrix member at one side of sheet, a stylus member With aplurality of stylus therein, movably mounted at the opposite side ofsaid sheet in register with said matrix, key-actuated means forselectively positioning said stylus in said stylus member, and powermeans for automatically moving said stylus member bodily to force theselectively positioned stylus into said sheet against said matrix.

3. In a machine of the character referred to, a stylus block withmovable stylus, keys with connections for selectively moving saidstylus, power actuated toggle means foi` bodily moving said stylusblock'and stylus, and operative connections from said keys for settingsaid power means into action to move said stylus block with eachdepression of a key.

i Il. In a machine of the character referred to, in combination withmeans for holding and moving a sheet of material to be embossed, astylus block movably mounted, stylus therein, keyswith operativeconnections for selectively moving said stylus, a.

matrix `above said stylus block, operative connections from said keysfor automatically controlling the movement of said stylus block and thestylus, and power means adapted to be put into operative connection withsaid stylus block with the manipulation of said keys, for operating thestylus block.

5. In a machine of the character referred to, in combination, a stand, acarriage mounted tol be moved step by step across said stand, keyscontrolling the movement of said carriage, a second carriage movable onsaid first carriage and transversely thereof, means for moving the samein a horizontal plane, means thereon for holding a 'sheet of material, amatrix block with matrix therein, and a stylus block with stylustherein, said matrix block and said stylus block being positionedrespectively above and below said sheet, key-actuated means forselectively postioning the styluses, power means for moving the stylushead bodily against the sheet and said matrix, and means for returningsaid styluses to their normal positions after each impression,substantially as described.

Signed at Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, this L1th day ofMarch, 1921.

JOI-IN R. ATKINSON. HARRY GEARING.

Witnesses:

W. R. LITZENBERG, T. C. Pm'm.

